The Better of Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Huge cats, magnificence pageants, and blues. These are simply among the finest issues to do in Baton Rouge. The capital of Louisiana reveals its historic ties to French exploration and Native Individuals in its identify, Baton Rouge. When Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d’Iberville first got here to the realm in 1699 he discovered a crimson pole alongside the Mississippi River that marked the dividing line between the Houmas and Byougoula Indigenous territories. He named the place Baton Rouge, that means Pink Stick, and it’s since grown to be the second-largest metropolis within the state of Louisiana. 

The Better of Baton Rouge

On my fourth go to to Louisiana, I wished to discover Baton Rouge so I left New Orleans for the 90 minute drive to this lovely metropolis. Leaving New Orleans, you may meander alongside one among America’s nice highways, Louisiana’s River Highway. If you happen to do, be sure and cease at Whitney Plantation Museum, the one plantation that focuses on the lives of enslaved individuals, telling their tales by means of sculpture and artwork. 

Or you might take the extra direct route on Freeway 10. The 80-mile drive can take you an hour and a half, or one or two days should you cease at each mom-and-pop diner and wedding-cake plantation. That drive alone can change your life and make you fall in love with Louisiana. It did it for me. 

Magnificence pageants in Baton Rouge

Rolling as much as the Baton Rouge Marriott, I discovered the foyer filled with younger girls decked out in fluffy tulle skirts and sparkly tiaras. They have been participating within the Miss Baton Rouge pageant and hoping to make their approach to the Miss Louisiana pageant, and who is aware of how a lot additional, sooner or later.

Within the meantime, their mothers have been pleased to speak and clarify that each little woman deserves to shine. It was enjoyable to journey within the elevators with these charming little girls, who left a path of glitter in every single place, on the way in which as much as my comfy lodge room. The Baton Rouge Marriott is a lodge of selection for these bevies of well-behaved pageant contributors.

Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State College

One other essential dividing line might be discovered mid-field at Louisiana State College’s Tiger Stadium. Billed because the loudest stadium within the USA, the cheers from the group in a 1988 sport towards Auburn College brought about an earthquake studying on the seismograph on the campus geoscience complicated.

At 102,321 seats, LSU is the eighth largest stadium on the planet. On each sport weekend, your complete campus is taken over by tailgate events the place followers compete for the very best spots to arrange moveable grills, snap out the garden chairs, and crack open a number of chilly beers. Marching bands and wannabe mascots decked out within the crew’s colours of purple and gold parade by means of the grounds whereas associates and households munch on shrimp and grits, grilled meats of all shapes, and crab stuffed po’boy sandwiches. Try: Conventional New Orleans Dishes

Mike the Tiger

Proper throughout from the stadium is the enclosure the place you’ll discover Mike the Tiger, Mike VII, to be exact. He’s a 345-pound Bengal/Siberian cross rescue tiger who was dropped at the habitat in 2017. He continues the lengthy lineage of Mikes, starting with Mike I who arrived in 1936. The latest incarnations of Mike have all come from large cat rescue shelters throughout the US. His habitat is spectacular.

The 15,000-square-foot setting features a stay oak tree, a waterfall, and a stream for Mike to chill off in. There are many crops and bushes to cover behind, and a particular consolation rock that’s mechanically heated or cooled as wanted, to maintain Mike comfy. Along with hanging out, Mike takes half in tiger analysis, conservation, and husbandry packages. Not a nasty life. A full-size bronze statue of Mike guards the doorway.

The LSU Museum of Artwork

LSU’s affect might be seen all through Baton Rouge. The LSU Museum of Artwork has everlasting and rotating displays with an emphasis on Southern artists, and a number of other neighborhood artwork packages. However I used to be itching to see one of many college’s different tasks, the LSU Rural Life Museum & Windrush Gardens.  

LSU Rural Life Museum

I’m undecided if the LSU Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens are all the time as quiet as they have been after I visited, however it is a nice outside museum and properly price a number of hours of your time. In truth, it was named one of many High 10 Out of doors Museums within the World by the British Museum. It holds essentially the most spectacular assortment of Louisiana’s historic structure that I’ve ever seen and the most important assortment of 18th and Nineteenth-century buildings within the state. As I wandered on the gravel paths, I used to be reminded of the spectral visions of the 2 girls of Versailles. I didn’t see any ghosts, however I wouldn’t have been shocked to see some.

This was by no means a grand, white-pillared, plantation residence. It was a household farm of round 400 acres that was bought by the Burden household in 1861 who ultimately donated it to LSU. There are three sections to the museum. The Working Plantation, People Structure, and The Exhibit Barn.

At The Working Plantation, the lives of enslaved persons are introduced into sharp focus by the buildings that they lived and labored in. The superb state of the buildings is as a result of cypress wooden used of their development. It’s naturally sturdy, doesn’t rot, and is insect and water resistant. Consequently, there was no want to color them they usually proceed to sit down, strong and gray, open to guests and the climate. The Overseer’s Home dominates the quadrant that incorporates the slave cabins, the sugar grinder, the kitchen, blacksmith’s store, and the commissary. 

The People Structure part has a gorgeous rustic church with painted home windows as a substitute of stained glass, a pioneer’s cabin, and a breezy dogtrot home. A superb instance of a so-called Shotgun Home, lengthy and slender with rooms off a single hall, stands subsequent to the street, surrounded by rose bushes. This fashion of house is frequent in New Orleans. The Acadian home has a ladder that results in the second ground garçonnière the place the boys had their bedrooms as soon as they grew to become teenage terrors. 

It’s straightforward to spend a number of hours right here, particularly should you go to the Exhibit Barn that has shows and artifacts from the times of early Louisiana, by means of the Civil Struggle, Reconstruction, and the Industrial Revolution. There’s additionally a big assortment of horse-drawn carriages, farming tools, and instruments. 

Windrush Gardens

Windrush Gardens is the working analysis backyard adjoining the museum and a spot of nice magnificence with three miles of strolling paths by means of Burden Woods. Rose lovers will respect the specialty specimens within the Rose Backyard. There’s a boardwalk over Black Swamp, a Kids’s Backyard, and bushes and flowers not discovered wherever else within the state. Gardeners will wish to linger.

Sammy’s Grill

After my go to, it was time for lunch. I finished in at Sammy’s Grill on Highland, a neighborhood favorite for Louisiana crawfish and Gulf shrimp and oysters. Together with wealthy gumbo and scrumptious crawfish etouffee over rice, additionally they serve alligator, fried or blackened, and typical Southern sides like grits, or crimson rice and beans.

I opted for a crawfish boil, a standard dish with potatoes and corn on the cob. Crawfish get greater because the climate warms from February to Might, with Easter usually being prime time for these freshwater crustaceans. They style like a cross between shrimp and lobster and make an ideal meal, when you launch them from their shiny crimson jackets. 

Louisiana Outdated State Capitol

After lunch, I used to be off to the Louisiana Outdated State Capitol for a lesson in politics. Mark Twain was not a fan of this Nationwide Historic Monument that stands on the banks of the Mississippi. He referred to as it “just a little sham fortress”.  In fact, being a world traveler and having seen loads of real castles could have influenced his view. In any case, on this one occasion, I have to disagree with one among my favorite journey writers. The Outdated State Capitol is spectacular in its manner. It’s a mash-up of Gothic and Victorian structure that emerged after it was partially destroyed by a fireplace after the Civil Struggle. 

The foyer is dominated by an ornate round forged iron staircase and lit in confetti colors by a unprecedented round glass dome overhead that dates to 1882. Off the foyer, a brief movie referred to as “Ghost of the Citadel” tells the historical past of the constructing. Painted Moorish arches result in exhibition areas.

Governor’s Workplace and Reception Room

Within the Governor’s Workplace and Reception Room, issues have largely stayed the identical for the reason that flip of the century, apart from the interactive podium that options speeches by former governors, together with Huey Lengthy. A everlasting exhibition delves into his controversial legacy. He was a left-wing Democrat who criticized Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal for not going far sufficient to assist the poor.

As a Senator, he took on Customary Oil and Wall Road whereas advocating for a tax on the rich. Bellicose and belligerent, he as soon as declared “I’m the Structure”, when challenged on some extent of regulation. He was assassinated in 1935 on the age of 42 by a relative of a political opponent. His fascinating journey by means of Louisiana politics is revealed by means of the interactive shows. An adjoining exhibition offers with the historical past of voting and the democratic course of.

USS KIDD Veterans Museum

Take the spiral staircase as much as the second ground to see the unique Senate and Home chambers, full with their very own stained-glass home windows. This was the place the place Louisiana famously seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy in 1861. Group excursions take you even greater up, to the rooftop of the constructing with a sweeping view of the Mississippi and the USS KIDD Veterans Museum.

This World Struggle II restored Destroyer is the one ship within the US Navy that’s allowed to fly the cranium and crossbones pirate flag, on the request of the widow of Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr.  He was killed aboard the USS ARIZONA in the course of the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbour. The floating museum is free to the general public, and you’ll go to your complete vessel from stem to stern on all ranges.

Baton Rouge Blues Competition

I used to be shooed out of the Capitol constructing at closing time and crossed the road to seek out the Baton Rouge Blues Competition in full swing. This free two-day occasion has been held each spring since 1981, with a brief break for the pandemic.  It celebrates “swamp blues”, a homegrown Baton Rouge selection. 4 levels are scattered across the downtown mall, with loads of shade, cool drinkables and snacks available.

Nikki Hill, of Montreaux and Monterey Jazz Competition fame, closed out the present as a part of her world tour. In April 2023, headliners will embrace the sacred soul and gospel singer Elizabeth King of Memphis and the blues and r&b group Tommy Castro & the Painkillers together with many others. There’s some seating available, and the dance ground is all the time full of music lovers of all ages. 

Mid Metropolis Beer Backyard

I wrapped up my go to to Baton Rouge with a go to to Mid Metropolis Beer Backyard, an ethereal courtyard area with over 50 beers on faucet, together with their very own specialty brews. The boudin balls have been calling so I needed to examine them out. A Louisiana appetizer and all-around consolation meals, they’re made with rice, meat, and savoury spices, rolled into balls and coated with breadcrumbs. The deep-fried result’s a crispy shell and a moist inside that’s irresistible.

Dare you to eat only one. They’re so beloved that Louisiana has its personal Cajun Boudin Path you can comply with by means of the state.  Boudin is made as a sausage or as boudin balls, and every recipe is exclusive. Subsequent up was the home particular – a cheese sandwich, however not simply any cheese sandwich. This one boasted six sorts of cheese on a rosemary focaccia bun and it was scrumptious. Then it was again to my lodge for a very good night time’s sleep. Baton Rouge will all the time be a successful contestant in my journey magnificence pageant. 

Debra Smith was a visitor of Louisiana Journey. As all the time, her opinions are her personal. Go to the Louisiana Journey web site for extra info on Baton Rouge and different great cities in Louisiana. For extra tales by Debra, go to her web site at WhereToLady.com And comply with her travels on Instagram @the place.to.woman  and on Fb